01/30/18 01/30/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! [cheers] amy: cheers erupted moayay as federal judge ordered ee relee e of iigrarantightss leader ravi ragbir, head othe new sanctuary coalition of new york city, comparing the way ice detained him to "regimes we revile as unjust" that take residents "away without notice from streets, home, and work."

today, ravi ragbir joins us in studio just out ofof detention. >> it still feels like that noose israel tight around my neck am an analogy i've used many times. i think it is appropriate. i family and supporters have seen that tightening of destruction of our lives. amamy: we will speak to ravi alg with his wife amy gottlieb and she will attend president trump's state of the union tonight as guest of native alaska is. then we go to new jersey where ice detained two fathers thursday as they dropped their children off at school. a third father had sought sanctuary in a church. we will be joined d by his past. all of ththat a more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in another shakeup at the fbi, the agency's second highest official deputy director andrew mccabe abruptly resigned from on monday. this comes just under nine months since president trump fired fbi director james comey. many consider his departure as well as comey's firing as part of presidedent trump's resistane to the fbi investigation into trumps ties to russia. president trump and some republican lawmakers have for months attacked mccain, saying his wife ran as a democrat for virginia senate seat in 2015 and received money from allies of the clinton driveway. mccabe said he felt pressure delete from fbi director christpher wray despite having wanted to stay in till he would be eligible for a full pension. former drug company executive alex azar has been sworn in as the head of the department of health and human services. azar is a former executive of

the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company eli lilly. he was confirmed by the senate last week, despite a controversy over eli lilly's decision to test its highly profitable erectile dysfunction drug cialis on children in efforts to extend a patent that was soon to expire. azar was the president of eli lilly's u.s. operations when the company decided to test the sex drug on children in order to increase their profits. the house intelligence committee has voted to declassify a four-page document written by the committee's chair, california congress member devin nunes, in which he claims that under the obama administration, the fbi surveilled the trump campaign. newness had to recuse himself from the investigation into the trump campaign ties to russia because of his close ties to trump. he served on trump's transition team. democratic lawmakers have accused newness of trying to derail and undermine special counsel robert mueller's investigation into the trump campaign by pushing to release

the document, which could now be made public as early as this week. the house intelligence committee will not release a competing memo by california democratic commerce member adam schiff, the highest-ranking democrat, on the committee. top watchdog in afghanistan says the pentagon has restricted the release of critical information about the u.s. war in afghanistan. the special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction has been publishing quarterly reports for years, but on monday, for the first time, information about troop levels in the amount of territory controlled by the taliban was withheld from the public report under the man's from the dust demands from the pentagon. on monday, president trump -- on the u.s. war in afghanistan and rejected the idea of peace talks with the taliban, following a wave of violence in the capital, kabul, in recent days. this is president trump speaking monday during a lunch with members of the united nations secucurity council.

pres. trump: many, many women and children thahat are totally innocent, it is horrible. so there is no talking to the taliban. we are going to finish what we have to finish. amy: on saturday, the taliban detonated an ambulance packed with explosives in the heart of kabul, killing at least 103 people and wounding as many as 235. casino billionaire steve wynn has resigned as the republican national committee's finance chair, in the wake of a "wall street journal" expose that revealed wynn had sexually harassed women who worked at his las vegas casinos for decades. the republican governors association has announced it will return $100,000 in donations from wynn's company in the wake of the revelations. wynn is a close friend of president trump, who has also been accused by 16 women of sexual harassment or assault. wynn filled in for trump and spoke at the mar-a-lago inauguration anniversary

fundraiser a week ago after president trump couldn't leave washington, d.c., because of the government shutdown. the international energy agency says u.s. oil extraction is expected to surge this year, with the u.s. expected to surpass saudi arabia and rival russia in terms of overall production. the surge in u.s. oil extraction comes as the trump administration has moved to loosen drilling regulatitions ad open up millions of acres of waters to offshore drilling. a federal judge in new york city ordered the immediate release of immigrant rights leader ravi ragbir from detention on monday, calling his detention unnecessarily cruel. ragbir is the executive director of the new sanctuary coalition and one of the handful of high-profile immigrant rights activists who have been targeted for detention and deportation by the trump administration. we will hear from ravi ragbir after headlines, as well as from his wife amy gottlieb, an immigrant rights lawyer, who will be attending president trump's first state of the union

tonight, along with a handful of other invited immigrant rights leaders, including houston dreamer cesar espinosa, and washington state anti-detention activist maru mora veeyalpando. in more news on immigrant rights, an appeals court has ruled that children who migrant to the united states with their parents without permission do not have the right to a government-appointed lawyer in u.s. immigration courts. in response, the aclu said -- "if permitted to stand, will result in the deportation of thousands of vulnerable children to some of the most violent places on earth." meanwhile, the immigration and customs enforcement agency, known as ice, has gained access to a nationwide license plate recognition database. the new contract between ice and the company vigilalant solutions will give ice access to millions of license plate records. the department of homeland security has announced further restrictions on refugees seeking to enter the united states. the increased restrictions

particularly apply to refugees from 11 countries -- egypt, iran, iraq, libya, mali, north korea, somalia, south sudan, sudan, syria, and yemen. the united nations says at least 30 refugees drowned in the gulf of aden off the coast of yemen last week after their boat capsized while smugglers were trying to extort the refugees for more money. the refugees were from ethiopia and somalia. the brititish-basesed syrian observatory for human righghts says at least 33 peoeople have been killed byby airrikekes in e rebel-held province ofof idlib, syria, s since sununday. a member of the humamatarian rescue group the white helmets says the syrian government bombed a vegetable m market anda hospital on monday. the syrian government denies bombing civilianan targets. in yemen, atat least 15 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint in southeast yemen today. meanwhile, the red cross says at least 36 people have been killed and dozens more wounded amid fighting in n the portrt city of aden. in gaza, about 13,000 workers

with the u.n. agency for palestinian refugees, known as unrwa, went on strike monday to protest president trump's decision to slash the united states' funding to the agency. this is a teacher at an unrwa school, reem abu hmeid. protesting for the right of the refugees. the right of return. we will never give up this right with years and days. the right of return to our occupied lands.. ands the duty of unrwa united nation to provide the services. amy: in kashmir, residents are protesting killing of two students by indian soldiers at a protest on saturday. the two civilians were killed and nine others were wounded on -- wounded after indian soldiers opened fire on a group of people demonstrating against indian rule in the disputed territory. in brazil, the landless workers movement, known as mst, is denouncing the assassination of one of its leaders, marcio oliveira matos. the group says he was murdered by armed gunmen, who shot him dead at his home in front of his

six-year-old son. back in the notice states after decades of organizing by native americans from the cleveland baseball team has been forced to stop displaying its racist logo, chief wahoo, on the players' uniforms. the change will take place in 2019. native americans are now calling on the washington football team to follow suit and change its team name, which is based on a racial slur against native americans. and historian gar alperovitz has revealed for the first time the key role he and a handful of other activists played in helping whistleblower daniel ellsberg leak the pentagon papers to journalists. this is alperovitz, speaking in a video produced by "the new yorker." >> i helped arrange fothe distribution of thpapers. they had to be delivered to reports s who d cocomeo bostst and d mbridge. the questionasas, how to do that knowing that the govnmnment s trng to o nd the pers anan trying to findan ellsberg. one of the graduate stents who

was lpining us would te a bundleff papers and one of the reporters said, go to this hot room and wai waitoror a cl. so a call was made. i basically said to him, ope youroor. the box was there that ha b been left a few minutes earlier the strategy was to f from pupubl telepepne to public telephone annever use the same one, moving inhe boston area, the mbmbridg area, many lilele tieses, you w wld not be traced. iteemed work. y:hat is thdetails abt e smog oantiwarctivistso helpanielllsberg ha been hien for deces, and e idtities ohis coeagues are stila mystery. and the are me of the headlis. th is demoacy now! democrynow.orgthe war d ace report i'm amy goman. an: and'm ju gonzalez. weome to a of oulistener and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today with some rare good news for immigrant rights advocates.

[cheers] >> ravi! juan: those are members of the new sanctuary coalition of new york city, cheering an order to release their executive director ravi ragbir from detention. last month, ragbir was one of several nationally recognized activists to be taken into custody by immigration and customs enforcement. he was handcuffed and arrested during his routine check-in on january 11, prompting a mass protest that ended with 18 people arrested, including two members of the new york city council. ravi was then quickly flown by ice, in shackles, to the krome detention center in florida. as he faced imminent deportation to his native trinidad, public outcry grew. then ice informed his lawyers that he would be brought back to detention in the new york city area. amy: well, on monday, u.s. district judge katherine forrest said ravi ragbir's detention was

unnecessarily cruel and ordered ice to free him. in a decision she read aloud from the bench, the judge said ravi ragbir had "the freedom to say goodbye" and compared his treatment to that of "regimes we revile as unjust, regimes where those who have long lived in a country may be taken without notice from streets, home, and work. and sent away. we are not that country. and woe be the day that we become that country under a fiction that laws allow it." in court, assistant u.s. attorney brandon waterman argued ice did not violate ragbir's due process rights because immigrants facacing deportation "are on notice they can be picked up at any time." the government asked the judge to stay her order while it apappeals, but she refused. and instead, ordered ragbir's immediate release. and now we welcome back to the studio ravi ragbir, co-founder and executive director of the

new sanctuary coalition, as well as his wife amy gottlieb, a , longtime immigrant rights advocate with the american friends service committee, and the head of ravi ragbir's legal team, alina das, co-director of the immigrant rights clinic at the nyu school of law. we welcome you all to democracy now! court seen yesterday, being in federal court in downtown manhattan and hearing this judge read her decision, there is and ought to be in this great country the freedom to say goodbdbye" and tn going on to say, what i just read in the headlines, "we're subjected to treatment she said" it ought not to be those who have lived without incident in this country for years are subjected to treatment associated with regimes we revile as unjust. this is a stunning rebuke of the

trump administration. so, ravi ragbir, last night you are free. how do you feel right now? an auto body experience. this is only 18 days january 11 when all of this unfolded. all i'm doing right now is just trying to catch up. since january 11, i was locked in a box, in a cage. amy: u.n. for a check-in. >> i reported like i'm done for many years immigration's and customs enforcement. wife.orney, my instead of saying we're going to ask you to come out, which normally they would do, they said they were going to take me away and i would be deported. -- ince then, it has been amy: where did they take you

that day, january 11? >> so what happened is, i passed out. i don't know why. i knew they w were looking for e since january 3, and i had not been eating or sleeping so i passed out. amy: you fainted. >> sorry, i fainted. they took him to the hospital and from the hospital they took me to newark airport. they had 20 officers watching me. 20 officers. 10 of them of ice and 10 nypd. when nypd,, it said, what you doing? amy: when you're out or in? >> when i was in the hospital. from the hospital, they had an entourage of at least 10 cars -- 10 cars to take me to the airport. i'm sitting there looking at this in an auto body, what is happening? where is all of this coming from?

juan: in other words, you are not being transported along with another group of detainees, but by yourself with all of these agents. >> that is correct. sitting alone in the van. chapo ore you are el another major criminal. >> i didn't want to say that, but, yes. like i could be the most wanted or -- i don't like to call the name. but it felt that way. juan: in essence, you are being targeted by ice, clearly, and it wasn't just a question of another routine detention and deportation proceeding that -- in essence, that many resources being dedicated to you clearly indicates they were targeting you, most probably because of your activism. >> if you look at the way the events unfolded, that is feeling conclusion you can reach.

all of these resources were dedicated to taking one person a way, so you know it has to be -- it has to be planned. he said that in an affididavit, whole series this of events. so it was not just that i was coming in for a check-in, it was a plan to tatarget me to remove me. amy: it is interesting because new york says it is a sanctuary city, thatat it won't have the police working with ice, and yet this is what you are saying happened. amy gottlieb, you are allowed in the ambulance. your husband had just fainted. and then they told you to step out. when you got to the hospital, but as you thought they were going to raise them out of the ambulance, but they moved him on with you outside. >> they first took us to a hospital in downtown manhattan.

as i got out of the ambulance, i thought he was going to be behind me and the ambulance drove away. we had no idea where he was for a couple of hours, probably to around 2:00 or 3:00 we found he is been taken to bellevue and that is only because we had people who were calling and calling trying to figure out what had happened. it wasn't as if ice came and said, oh, we took her husband, who by the w, needs medical atattentn, t to llevueue hospit, as oneouould tnk t they would do with a spouse. we found a much later. juan: what about the communications you had with authorities in terms of legal representation and what theyey were telling you? >> throughout this process, and i've had the privilege of representing ravi for a decade, since 2008, we have alwaysys ben in constant medication with ice to be sure we are complying with all of the requirements that they have put in h his case. mamany years, it is been a very good r relationship list of innocence that they have recognized his contribution to the community, his family ties,

his incredible work with new sanctuary coalition. the change in events in the days leading up to the check-in and the check-in itself were incredibly disturbing because there was never really an explanation for why they felt the need to detain him. and that day when they made that decision and both amy and i were pleading with the officer to explain why they needed to do something like this and never receining anxplalanaon, anan then having him was away from s s commity y wi no formatatn, it essentially took a massive ouououringf counitity pport t d legal resources for us to be sittin hereododay. i felt sgrateful for the incredible community outcry that r reallmadede ts happen. woresrs it veryuch becauau of the ousandndof peop who are iravi's situion who are n necearily gog to have ose resources ailable them. but th is whatavi has bn

fighng foror the pas dede. ju: you even d to cy twoitymbers -- council mbers arreed in a protesin suprt of twcity uncil membs arrest in a protest supportf him. >> absutely. the commity have bn engage in aeaceful,rayerfuligil tside 26 fedel plplaz they sawhe ambanceeaving euildinwithout ansirens on orny indicion thathey we doing this a medic emerncy. we were to this iso they could ar him porattentio deportaon. peoplwerere arrted, inuding two city counciembers, d many me we standing prote for what the were eing. am in cour o monda the law stent who arguethe caseonone of the two, jeremyutting said ice's aistant fld directo resentedmy gottlb for fth ravi ragr pss yes

activism after e march rough hureds pple to prost comhe' of wt t happen last ti is t going happepe aga, and refer to t january 1 11 chk-in day." thgovernnt'lawyer sponded sing, the is no informatn sugsted amy wastarted.gbir this iwhatudge forst wro in the first ftnote her orr. shwrote -- "theourt ifact agrs with the govement that e stutory scme. this is extremely significant. can you talk about what happened official one january 11? i actually was sitting there

just hearing what he was saying. it was in a discussion with me, -- it was defensive an aggression toward amy and my lawyer. even though he invited them into the space, it was sort of an attack of why are they not allowing this to happen freely? amy: amy gottlieb, what did he said eu? >> he just kept kind of repeating himself and getting really worked up that this was the end of the road, that i has been had his chances, that they're going to enforce removal and they cap repeating it and there was no possibility of entering into a conversrsation with him at that moment at all. this is somebody i've known for many years because of my work. it was really astonishing just

to feel so incredibly dehumanized in this space and to see ravi faint and we had asked for water. they did not run and get water. we had to ask for it. it was terrifying. juan: when you learned he was being transferred to krome detention center in florida when there are plenty of detention centers that ice has in the metropolitan area they could of held him at pending the resolution of whether he was going to be deported or not? not surprised. we knew this was targeted and they're going to make it harder for all of us, going to make it hard for us to do the legal work, make it hard for us to visit, going to make it hard for them to be supported by his community. --ortunately, we were a able fortunately, we e were able to t an order from judge force early on the required ice to bring it back to the new york area. so he would bebe a little e bit clcloser, but still orange couny

jail is a jail. locked up in an jail cell for over two weeks. amy: last that when you were released, ravi ragbir, who released you? scott makowski. i was told that the judge ordered me immediately released. i could not believe it. we thought they would release me there. the whole team went up. and they said, no, they have to bring me down. they shackled me. i said, you know you're releasing me, right? why are you doing this? 6:45 and we got to new york city at 8:00, and he was there waiting with the documents to order me --

institute of order of removal on february 10. i have to root for back to them -- report back to them on february 10. amy: he drove you to the church? >> he had me -- he had me sit in a car and wait in the warm so i'm not outside cold. amy: were you still in shackles? >> no, no, no. oh, don't worry to come down, i will bring you up. humanity,ing move of the deputy director walked me to the front door of judson memorial church amy: and that is where the new coalition is based. we're talking to amy gottlieb wifevi ragbir from his amy gottlieb and his lawyer alina das. we will hear about that journey behind bars when ravi ragbir was not accessible to the public,

what this means, the people he saw behindnd bars, when we come back. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. on monday, a federal judge in new york city ordered the immediate release of immigrant rights leader ravi ragbir from ice detention, cacalling it "unnecessarily cruel."." but his orordeal is nonot over. katherinetrict judge forrest wrote of the due process at stake in this case -- "the process that was due here is not process that will allow him to stay indefinitely those of those processes have been had. the processes to here is the allowance that he know and understand the time has come that he must organize his own affairs and that he must do so by a date certain. that is what is due.

that is the process required after a life living among us." is thevi ragbir executive director of the new century coalition one of the thoseile -- handful of being targeted. also joining us is his wife amy gottlieb and alina das. alina das come if you can talk about the significance of what has taken place. this was a stunning rebuke of the trump administration a judge forrest handed down yesterday. you came outside the courthouse. we could not even have phones in the courtroom or record anything. you talked about the significance of this case around the country as amy is about to get on a trade to be a guest at the state of the union, not

invited by president trump, but commerce member nydia velazquez. >> we were so heartened to get the judge's decision orordering immediate release. even more so the basis of the decision recognizing the cruelty of the tension. at the end of the day, i think that is the principle that will stand for all of these cases that we are seeing because what she recognized is when you detain someone who is not a flight risk or danger, it becomes arbitrary. that is what happened here. is has never claim that ravi a danger to the community. the contrary, in the past, they have recognized his contributions. yet the only explanation the attorney was able toto provide t the e hearing yesterday y for wy they did this was that it was in their operational decision-making process. when you hear words like that,

which are emptied, it just shows how far we have come that detention has become so normalized that we think it is perfectly fine to lock someone up, put them in shackles, takee them to a jail away from their families, just in order to enforce what essentially is a civil ministry to order. we do intend to challenge that order and we have other legal cases that are pending for ravi, so our role is to o keep them hehere. but recognizing, as the court did, that detention itself was cruel and inhumane will be hopeful to many other people who face this scenario. terms of the fight is going to continue, clearly, because the judge did recognize tot ice had the legal right deport your husband but it was a question of the way they detained him in the process. now that you are facing a new date, what do you see, especially in the context, as we're seeing, both president trump and the democrats are inviting, nydia velazquez

inviting you, immigrant advocates and people, according to trump them have b been victimized by crime of undocumented immigrant's, all going to be center stage this evening at the state of the union. context, the continuing battle over your husband's ability to stay in the country. , butah, it is terrifying to see the surge of support we have, it is so rewarding. it gives me strength and it gives me hope. we have been married must eight years. we have been together for a long time. we have learned to walk through this one day at a time. right now it feels like we have a short period of time until the next day of deportation expires, but we have -- i i have to o hod onto my faith that this system is going to work. my faith was shattered when ravi

was in detention. amy: you flew to florida and went to orange county. >> three times to orange county jail to see my husband in a bright yellow jumpsuit for one hour. and spent a couple hundred dollars on phone calls for us to be able to talk. right now it feels like we have got this surge of commumunity support. we are members o of congress wee looking out for us. we have the legal team that we have. i feel so grateful for all of that and i'm just going to have to keep doing it one day at a time and believing deep down in my heart and my soul that we are going to find a way through this. and it will not be easy, we realize that. we areknow -- extraordinarily lucky and we talk all the time and think all of the time about people in the situation who are not supported by the lawyers that wewe have, y the community that we have, by people who are willing to lie down and be arrested on our

behalf. that is extraordinary situation that we live, and we recognize that. we want to see that for everybody. it is scary. >> coming back to the judge's thation, under the guise this law makes it right. that is the problem with this law makes it right to do this post up it is beyond me. it is about hundreds of thousands that are facing it. you felts in krome, the hopelessness that people had. they are terrified of what has happened. everything is stripped away from them. when i moved to orange county -- they moved me to orange county, i did not movove. it is the same thing, people are not -- they are destroyed. their spirits are broken. when you have hundreds of millions of people in this

state, there is something wrong. and that law that she rarely targeted -- that she rarely targeted, makes it all possible. juan: what was some of the interaction that you had with the guards looking over you? were they aware you were in immigrants activists and did they -- did you have conversations with them about the situation? >> not only the guards, but the ice officers themselves. one ice officer stuck his hand in his pocket and said, i heard you are an immigrants right activist? what do you do? he started talking. then he asked me, said down next to me, put his foot on the chair. in the end i said, you know everything you have said, i would invite you to come and work for us. he was making his own arguments in how what is happening this law itself is wrong. they recognize that. but that is their job. conversationsse

krome, hearing them say what was happening to me was wrongful so they recognize that. amy: i want to ask alina das about this o ongoing case. it is one of the issues the judge raised. she said, you have a court case, what, february 9, so why, she said, to the lawyers ,epresenting the court and ice is he going to be detained until then? separating detention from deportation. if he is not a flight risk, if he is that a danger to the committed, wife he being held? and you talk about this case? ravi has been in this country for over a quarter of a century. >> absolutely. he has faced many injustices in the legal system. theree always maintained beenen fundamental errors in the

original conviction that is leading to this deportation. amy: x line what you mean by that original conviction. hade came to the u.s. and lawful permanent residency. he had status. yet because of a criminal conviction that he received in 2001, he is facing this double punishment. amy: and this is for wire fraud. >> it was a fraud conviction we believe was destined involved several errors in terms of jury instruction and sentencing that laws of come to light that made it clear he was convicted for conduct that was not actually criminal. so those are the challenges we have been pursuing for a number of years while all of this has been going on. under prior administrations, we had been told by ice they recognize that he had a due process interest in seeing his day in court on those claims. nothing about that has changed. those were all pending before january 11. yet we walked in that day and

suddenly, we got this decision to deport him. i think that is the part of this that is so disturbing. that the only thing that is really changed in ravi's case since 2008 is his prominence as a immigrant rights activist has only increased and it has come into direct conflict with the current ministration. comments, itravi's is not about one man or the agency of ice. ice issued a statement in response to the judge's order, seeming to suggest she was somehow insulting ice officers. of the fact of the matter is, many of the ice officers we're spoken to even in the last few weeks from have expressed concern about the direction ice is moving in. we recognizeze the humanity of everyone who is working were caught up in this system, and we don't believe it is just one person or one policy. it is a stark change in the direction this country is moving in, and i think that is s why te work that ravivi does as an

activist so important. we will continue to o fight to make sure he is not deported. and the injustices in his conviction and removal order are addressed by the courts of law. amy: i was wondering if you could explain the accompaniment process that you have really refined that seemed to and rage ice officials. when we were there last march downtown, yet a jericho walk around 26 federal plaza were immigrants have to go inside where you were checking in. this was last march. you have legislators. you have city councilmembers. and this is what is so enraged scott mechkowski. talk about accompaniment and what it means. how many people came up with you, for example, january 11, when you went to your check-in. >> the accompaniment is simple. it is partnering u.s. citizens whom ice has no jurisdiction over with noncitizens who are

facing a terrible process as we talked about, facing deportation permanently. that is it in its simplicity. but there are rules -- part of the training is about the rules we engage or teach people. one is, don't judge anyone. so if people have criminal convictions, doesn't matter that. two, t that you shouldld respect people. three, do no harm. so everything that we have -- how we have trained people is, i don't want you to react to the offirs and react to the policybubut resnd -- - tehing them that responshas madehem ve effective because they' not inmimidateby the process. they're not i intimided by ic offirsrs. theyey a not intimidated becau

theynonow th arere cing atatt from a very nonviolent, nonconfrontational -- in fact, we said, we know you're dngng e acaccoanimenenwrong if you spspeak it. my training and goal is to learn how to shut up. that is the point of the a copy met program. it becomes very effective. they have been trying to bar the accompaniment from the check-in on many occasions. we will continue to accompany people. juan: amy, at the state of the union this evening, what are you opening -- what are you hoping to have an? talk about the congresswoman nydia velazquez who invited you? stunned to get the invitation. but i was impressed? it felt to me like able move on

her part. a since heard of others who have been invited by the members of congress, others and some are situations. bring a bold move to somebody with her as her guest who represent something the trump administration is fighting so hard. and that feels very affirming and positive and supportive to me. i think that being down there will be doing some press. hopefully, i will be some other members of congress and be able to talk about the issues, talk about the impact of the 1996 immigration laws -- which has caused ravi to be in the situation in the first place. and hopefully, get an ear of some people will for the actual address. the address itself, i will be doing some deep breathing exercises and trying to listen ofbest i can and to come out their feeling somomow at peace. juan: and before congress has to tackle legislation the president

has been requesting the terms of the dreamers and what he calls chain migration. >> it will be challenging for me to listen to his positions on immigration. i know that for sure. amy: he is going to be bringing, , a family member from long island who lost someone because they were murdered by an undocumented immigrant. the others who are going to be coming, cesar espinosa, who is a tremor from houston, texas, will be among those who are guests of congress members, as well as another coming from washington, state, all in the provided as guests for this -- all invited as guests for this evening. the significance right now, do you feel, that immigrant rights leaders are being targeted?

i just came from colorado were interviewed a mother, a mexican mother w who had been in this country for well over two decades named sandra lopez, mother of three, her eldest is in college and gst to little ones. she is in sancnctuary in the unititarian parsonage in carbondale, colorado, right next tothere are four people in colorado right now. your organization, ravito aspen. she is fearful she, too, could be deported. , just put out a memo that more people are taking refuge in churches than we have ever seen. since the 1980's. >> it is hard to ignore the pattern that has been emerging over the last several weeks. when you look at notot only ra's case, but others --

amy: just deported to haiti as president trump made those "s-hole" comments about haiti. >> exactly. you see this targeting of people who have been outspoken about the need for justice in our immigration system, people who have affiliated themselves with the sanctuary movement. it is hard to believe that there isn't active targeting going on because these are the same individuals who for years have been living with us, who have often been engaged in open communication with ice and try to fix policies at a local and national level. and now they try to be -- start to be targeted with no explanation or judgment as to what has changed that made them targets other than the fact that they have been effective in their work fighting against the trump administration. i think that is something that should disturb every american. amy: we will continue to follow your case. just one quick question, how are you holding up? one day after another for check you areou go to jail,

shackled, you are released, you go back. amy said, take it one day at a time. you just have to know -- i had to put one foot in front of the other and just hold on to that istional turmoil that churning within me, and lock it away. me ona doctor visit sunday night. i said, you're not going to find any trauma, but at the end of the meeting, it was evident that there was a lot locked up. what i did do when i was detained is paralyzed i could use this opportunity to help -- i was connected to lawyers. amy: i don't think they're going

to detain you anymore. >> that would be a challenge. i was hoping they could move me around so i could connect to more people. amy: we've continue organizing until february 9 when you have to show up again? >> absolutely. there is the weather choice. law, untilange this we change the premise of what is permitted our country, we have to continue to organize. amy: ravi ragbir, we want to thank you for coming here after just being released last night. amy gottlieb for joining us am a , immigrants rights attorney, will be attending the state of the union address tonight. and alina das codirects the immigrant rights clinic at the nyu school of law. when we come back, in the last few days, two men taking their kids to school were taken by ice

. a third went into sanctuary in new jersey, as all of this was happening. we are going to speak with his pastor. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: performing at the grammys sunday night. the title isber of for r the national suicide prevention hotline will stop 1his is democracy now! wit i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in new jersey, immigrations and

customs enforcement agents have detained two fathers as they were dropping their children off at school. on thursday, roby sanger was detained by ice after dropping his two daughters off at school, while gunawan liem was detained after he dropped his daughter off at the school bus stop. both menen are indonesian. a third man, also from indonesia, harry pangemanan, has taken sanctuary at the reformed church of highland park in new jersey after he says he saw undercover ice agents waiting outside his home as he was preparing to drive his daughter to school. just a week ago, the borough of highland park honored harry for his role in helping rebuild the jersey shore after superstorm sandy. juan: new jersey's new governor phil murphy, a democrat, criticized the actions of ice. after meeting with harry pangemanan in sanctuary, murphy said -- "this is extraordinary stuff we're talking about. these are wonderful people, and it's almost indescribable." this comes as a new repeport titled "sanctuary in the age of trump" has --

we're joined now by two guests. reverend seth kaper-dale is pastor of the reformed church of highland park. that is where harry pangemanan sought sanctuary. he was the green party candidate for the governor of new jersey in 2017. also with us is pastor stephen of the first indonesian seven adventist church in south plainfield, new jersey. i would like to ask you, you are the green party candidate. film or if he comes to your church, an example of somebody being persecuted by ice? >> i was excited the governor showed up on thursday. more than me being excited, for the families who have sought sanctuary in my church. here he makes three. we've had two other people, and another about 2.5 weeks ago my now harry. her them to see the support of the governor really told them in

this age of trump, at least at the state level, there is serious susupport for keeping kelly's together and community together. amy: explain what this means. some have gone over to cnn for reliable sources. talking to some of the hosts, not really aware of the century movement going on. how did harry and up in your church? these two other men, taking their kids to school, and there taken by ice. >> hearing ended up in our church because of 7:55 a.m. in the morning he called me. "pastor, there is an identified vehicles outside my house." he said he was backing out of his driveway, saw them, went back inside and lock the doors. i drove to his house. i approached a ford explorer. they drove off. i followed them around town. they came back. i drove up to their window, they drove off again posted by that point i said, harry, get a my car, we're going to the church.

i drdrove back to his house whee there were ice agents counting on the door. i made a video. amy: let's go to that. reverend kaper-dale, you streamed on facebook live thursday morning as ice officials knocked on harry pangemanan's door. this is after you took him into the church and offered him sanctuary. >> i don't think the officers knew he e was already in there. they were still trying to get him. ice officers knocking on harry pangemanan's door. i am fming what happens in highland park, new jersey, when ice decides they want to take a awardat just n the mlk for repairing 209 houses during hurricane sandy and a salt and threaten him. juan: could you talk about affefect these are all indononen nationals and now some of thehem originally c came into the couny and what their stories are? >> in the late 1990's, the

regime collapsed, there's a period of tremendous bloodbath against especially ethnic chinese. a lot of ethic chinese christians ended up in the united states. they allll got here on tourist visas. they overstayed those visas. they were able to get jobs in factories. it was the late 1990's. things were very different. 9/11 came. our first program of targeting muslim countries unfolded. to 65 had to go register. here you have at t big chinese christstians who have just left primarily muslim country not wanting to get caught up in the american dragnet against muslims, they all went and self-reported. since then, they've been low hanging fruit for immigration. in ago i want to turn to harry pangemanan in his own words speaking after his home was vandalized while he took refuge in your church.

i just want to make notes that they did damage to americicans lives. my c children. they started destroying my children's lives. thisis are american kids. like everybodydy else. now my oldest daughter s said to me last night, i d don't have ay more safe spapace for m myself. so whomever did this one, you did pretty good job of destroying american lives. juan: that was harry pangemanan talking. pastor, i want to ask you about gunawan liem the history. he is a member of your church? >> yes. he is one of the deacons of the church who serve in our church services, also when we need to serve the community, he is one of the members that we usually send. juan: what is some of his story?

>> he fled indonesia in 1999 after the regime collapsed. because of his chinese, ethnic chinese, and as a christian, he fled. he has some stories he told me about what happened to his family in indonesia, so that is why he run away from indonesia and arrived on a tourist visa in the u.s. tried to make his case for immigration, but was denied. he appealed and was denied again. he went for a check-in the last couple of years. he is supposed to check-in again the strength february or march, i believe. and for the time of that check in, they took them. and you go what the judge in the case of ravi ragbir raised. when people are doing their check ins, why is ice going to the homes of the memo and terrorizing not only them, but the whole community? what has happen right now to the two men who were taken, roby sanger as well as him?

>> they are in detention. amy: will they be deported to indonesia? >> we don't know yet. we're trying to do our best with the lawyers with the help of the aclu if there's something that can be done for them to stay. amy: pastor seth kaper-dale, what you calling for? >> first of all, these folks have been on order of supervision since 2009 when ice worked with us to say these are nothing kinds of people who should be deported. they are people who missed on a technicality a filing for asylum step ice at that time invited me to bring indonesians forward to be able to do these reports. they have backed off on the promises they have made. i really want donald trump to recognize that he is the hate crime president's down leading not only the policies that look like hate crimes, but leading other folks to do vigilante acts. the fact that two people who

moved into sanctuary had their homes really broken into and robberies taken place. amy: i want to thanknk you both for being with us, pastor seth kaper-dale and pastor stephen. thank you so much for joining

mechaninic: on the e tune-up pa,